Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Invests $437,000 in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in Garmin Ltd. (NYSE:GRMN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,684 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in Garmin during the 4th quarter valued at $54,460,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Garmin during the first quarter worth about $38,727,000. SW Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Garmin in the 4th quarter worth about $28,279,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Garmin by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 862,527 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $110,869,000 after buying an additional 190,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Garmin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,848,000. 73.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total transaction of $1,781,343.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 40,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,257,359.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Cheng-Wei Wang sold 10,055 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.16, for a total value of $1,781,343.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 40,965 shares in the company, valued at $7,257,359.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Douglas G. Boessen sold 2,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.63, for a total value of $379,830.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,527,256.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,242 shares of company stock worth $2,676,004 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GRMN. Bank of America lowered Garmin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $165.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Garmin from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Garmin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.83.

Garmin Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GRMN stock opened at $180.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $171.90 and its 200 day moving average is $159.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.00. Garmin Ltd. has a 12 month low of $99.61 and a 12 month high of $183.88.

Garmin (NYSE:GRMN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Garmin had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 24.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Garmin Ltd. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Garmin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Garmin’s payout ratio is presently 42.31%.

Garmin Profile

Garmin Ltd. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of wireless devices worldwide. Its Fitness segment offers running and multi-sport watches; cycling products; smartwatch devices; scales and monitors; and fitness accessories. This segment also provides Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile, which are web and mobile platforms where users can track and analyze their fitness, activities and workouts, and wellness data; and Connect IQ, an application development platform.